Cinematic Releases: The Hangover III

In 2009, Todd Philips shocked audiences with one of the best comedies of the year, if not the most outrageous comedy of the decade. Two years later he stumbled with an unworthy sequel that failed to live up to the laugh a minute routine of the first. The Hangover II had its moments but was ultimately a near remake of the original. This year, we're given another in the series of Wolf Pack adventures that he claims is "The End". For this, I am highly thankful. The Hangover III is not worthy of your hard earned money or precious time. If anything, it definitely concludes this series on a low note so depressing and dark, I was squirming in my seat eagerly awaiting the credits.

The first Hangover was a breath of fresh air that pushed the boundaries of its cast while putting them through a series of outrageous situations that you couldn't help but laugh at. At a time that comedy was becoming routine, it set itself apart by taking the typical bachelor party scenario and turned it on its head over and over again, making it a unique but simple story with great characters that everyone could relate to. The Hangover III does just the opposite. It's an unlikable film that fortunately doesn't revisit the same basic plot line from the first two but tries to separate itself with a more serious tone. It fails big time. This is the inherent problem. Philips tries to change a formula that works and instead ends up with an annoying, heartless film that doesn't have one shred of respect for its audience. I can count on my left hand the amount of times I laughed out loud. This is the best they could do?
Instead of ranting and raving about the movie, I'm going to make this as simple as possible. The Hangover III is barely a comedy. It meanders through another series of unfortunate events that takes the crew on another adventure that's a melancholy, unfunny, and altogether meaningless journey. Instead of giving the built in crowd a comedy, Philips decided to give us a serious film with a few laughs while wasting the acting and comedic talents of everyone involved. I'm personally shocked that John Goodman and Bradley Cooper didn't walk away from this terrible sequel.